Brian Jacques's Fall 2005 book tour took him
across the Western United States, through California, Oregon,
and Washington. As Jacques's tour was winding down Robert and
Brian met at a book event where Brian spoke at length about his
childhood in Liverpool, England. In his youth, Brian's family
was very poor and he went to Catholic school where the nuns
frequently whacked him and other children. He chuckled when he
told stories of the play yard on top of the school's flat roof
and of the teacher, a nun, who said of him, "There's the devil
in that child."

Brian's writing draws on many of his childhood
experiences. In the stories he read as a child, the authors
never wrote about what the characters were eating. They'd always
say the king or such gave a great feast, but would never say
what the characters were eating or whether the characters were
satisfied. He decided to remedy that in his Redwall books by
writing detailed accounts of what the characters feasted on and
whether they were satisfied.

Growing up poor and hungry are things Robert
Stanek understands all too well. In his childhood, there were
often days and weeks where meals consisted of flour and water
pancakes. As with Brian Jacques, one of the ways Robert Stanek
escaped the hardships of his childhood was through the books he
read. Books opened windows to new worlds, peoples, and places.
Robert's characters too tend to enjoy their share of feasts with
the merriment of a feast often being part of the story.

Robert
also had a particular nasty experience with a ruler-whacking
teacher--a former Catholic school teacher who thought only evil
children wrote with their left hand. Robert remains, of course,
left handed to this day.

Later in life, Brian worked many odds jobs. He
even worked as a long distance truck driver. His encounter with
two extraordinarily old men outside a pub would become the basis
for the moles in his stories. For you see, these two old men
ramble talked and their words were barely understandable. His
work with blind children is what got him started writing and is
what helped ensure his work was highly detailed, for he wanted
to paint pictures with words in such a way that any child--blind
or sighted--could understand the story.

In fact, Brian says that is what a writer is:
someone who can paint pictures with words. Of course, a writer
is also someone who can tell a good yarn, and Brian certainly
manages to do this in his Redwall books, including his latest:
High Rhulain. He's also recently published The Redwall
Cookbook.

To learn
more about Brian Jacques, visit Redwall Abbey.

Illustration
(c) Sean Rubin

The Redwall books include:

Redwall

Mossflower

Mattimeo

Mariel of Redwall

Salamandastron

Martin the Warrior

The Bellmaker

Outcast of Redwall

Pearls of Lutra

The Long Patrol

Marlfox

The Legend of Luke

Lord Brocktree

Taggerung

Triss

Loamhedge

Rakkety Tam

Get
Brian's books at Amazon.com, BN.com, or your favorite bookstore. To
contact Robert Stanek,
write or send an email. Hope to hear from you!